Willy's wonky backhand is a Murray bonus

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga loves to feast on what I call tennis's Surf And Turf menu - he loves to bang in a big serve and follow it up with a big forehand to either eat up the point or dominate the rally.

That one-two combination is what Andy Murray has to defend against, but the good news for British fans is that he seems more than up to the task in my eyes.

Weak spot: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga plays a backhand

Not that it is a foregone conclusion, but Andy has the skills to defuse the best attributes of Tsonga's game.

I would list these as his serve, forehand, movement and sheer
unpredictability. What makes the Frenchman dangerous is that, of all the
top 10 players, he is the most explosive in terms of being able to hit
enormous highs - but he is also capable of going walkabout for periods
in matches.

Jo-Willy is the
kind of player who might spend four games without going to the net and
then start serve-and-volleying for a short period, just to keep his
opponent guessing.

But what he loves to do most is run
around his backhand, his weaker side, and slash away. That is why, on
the return and in rallies, Murray must try and keep the ball deep,
hopefully with a variety of pace and slice to prevent his opponent
getting into what can be a devastating rhythm.

Tsonga's forehand is his 'moneyball'
but the backhand can be less reliable. His swing on the shot is slightly
stiff and that is probably a contributory factor to him having the
lowest break of serve percentage among the top guys.

It is also why, if the rally extends to more than six or seven shots you would back Murray to win it more often than not.

Ready for action: Murray (left) and Tsonga at Wimbledon on Thursday

Tsonga is great to watch, although
I've noticed in this tournament that he is showing a bit less of
himself, there is not quite the same animation on court about him. It
might be a sign that he is trying to improve his concentration.

I thought he would get through his part of the draw when Rafael Nadal
went out. His route has been easier than the matches faced by Murray,
who has really impressed me with the way he has dealt with adversity.
When Ivan Lendl took over his coaching, I am sure he identified three
areas to work on: the serve, forehand and mentality.

Here at Wimbledon you have been able to see the fruits of some of that work.

With the Murray serve we haven't been
seeing the second delivery dropping down around 80mph so much. The
manner in which Andy kept his cool when behind against Marcos Baghdatis
and David Ferrer was also extremely admirable.

So I see him in good shape to make the final, possibly in four sets, or it could even be in straight sets.

I still do not run away with the idea of Murray being favourite for the tournament, however.

I am leaning towards Novak Djokovic as the man to lift the trophy on Sunday and I put him marginally ahead of Roger Federer in their semi-final. With the Serb having won six of their last seven encounters, it is hard to think otherwise. But nobody should write Federer off and he could hardly have been more impressive against Mikhail Youzhny in his quarter-final.

If the roof comes over, that probably helps Djokovic and Murray as it slightly slows up the conditions.

My guess is that, regardless, we are going to see a massive occasion on Sunday - the world No 1 versus Andy Murray.